Developmental Orthopedic Disease in Foals

in the preweaned foal. Neither high protein diets 126 percent of National Research Council NRC recommendations for growing foals nor low protein diets 9 percent protein of the NRC minimum protein recommendation of approximately 13 percent fed in research trials conducted on growing foals had a significant impact on the incidence of DOD. Very low protein diets in growing foals did depress their growth rates feed intake and feed utilization but it did not appear to make them more susceptible to DOD. Supplementation of the amino acids lysine and threonine have shown to be beneficial in facilitating the reduction of bone lesions characteristic of OC that were already present in other monogastric species. Both of these amino acids are in plentiful supply in mares milk but their supply declines as lactation progresses. Well ahead of the initiation of weaning introducing a foal to a starter pellet using a creep feed system can help offset the increasing shortfall of nutrients in the mares milk as her lactation advances. In general diets for both weaned and preweaned foals need to be between 13 and 17 percent protein on a dry matter basis. Protein must be fed in balance with energy to support healthy growth. Growing foal diets that are very low in energy will not support healthy growth regardless of the protein levels.